Monday, April 13, 2009

Man arrested in Seattle in stabbing death of girlfriend in California

April 1, 2009 9:37 AM


Posted by Nick Provenza

A 55-year-old California man suspected of fatally stabbing his girlfriend last week was arrested Tuesday night at a Seattle homeless shelter.

Richmond police had been looking for Rachaele "Rick" William Pembrook and a felony warrant was issued for his arrest. Officers in the Bay Area city contacted Seattle police after determining that Pembrook may have come here, said Seattle police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb.

Pembrook is accused of killing his girlfriend, Donnell Dupree, possibly on the night of March 22, according to the Contra Costa Times newspaper. Dupree's 84-year-old mother  -- who is deaf, blind and suffering from Alzheimer's disease -- crawled on the floor of her Richmond home, looking for food and water for at least a couple of days before other family members found her and Dupree's body, the newspaper reported.

Dupree's brothers, who hadn't heard from their sister since she hosted a family get-together at her home on March 22, went to check on her and found her body in a bedroom with the door shut. Their mother was badly dehydrated and couldn't offer any information to detectives, but her health has since stabilized, according to the news report.

Dupree's sister told a reporter that Dupree and Pembrook, who met in Oakland last year, had a troubled relationship.

"Last weekend, he asker her to marry him, but he didn't have a ring," the paper quoted the sister, Desiree Dupree, as saying. When the victim made a comment about that, "he started moving his clothes out to his car."

Seattle officers tracked Pembrook to a homeless shelter for men in the 1500 block of Alaskan Way, Whitcomb said.

"He was very cooperative" and was taken into custody without incident, Whitcomb said.
Officers also impounded Pembrook's car.

Pembrook was booked into the King County Jail just before 11 p.m. Tuesday and is being held without bail. It is not known how soon he could be extradited to California to face the homicide charge.

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